Hello and welcome to exampundit.in. Here are the important Current Affairs Today 25th November 2020. These are important for the upcoming Exams. Candidates who were preparing for the examination can use these current affairs and also you can download the same as PDF.
Current Affairs Today – 25th November 2020
NEWS AT A GLANCE
- The United Nations designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is celebrated worldwide on November 25.
- Every year, November 24 is celebrated as Martyrdom Day of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhs, of Sikh religion.
- The Pharmaceutical Association of India and the Delhi Pharmaceutical Trust jointly celebrated the 59th National Pharmacy Week from November 16, 2020, to November 22, 2020.
- India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched a low-cost insurance scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)’ for its customers to bring large sections of the underserved and unserved population into the financial mainstream.
- The tenth edition of prestigious National science film festival kicked off on 24th November 2020 in a virtual mode.
- The Union Cabinet approved Rs 6,000 crores of capital infusion into the National Infrastructure Investment Fund.
- The Invest India and the United Nations Development Programme has launched the sustainable development goal investor map for India.
- President Ram Nath kovind boarded the Air India one-B777 aircraft.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, November 22, launched the ‘Har Ghar Nal Yojana’ (Tap Water to Every Household) for the residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra and Mirzapur district.
- China launched a historic mission ‘Chang’e 5‘to moon to collect ‘first lunar samples.
- Japan is India’s strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region and has recently signed an agreement to strengthen the Maldives’ security infrastructure, which will contribute to the stability of the South Indian Ocean.
- The 2020 Afghanistan Conference was organized in Geneva from 23-24 November 2020 virtually.
- The Netflix show, Delhi Crime, has won the Best Drama Series award at the 48th International Emmy Awards 2020.
- The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), situated in the Pilibhit district and Shahjahanpur District of Uttar Pradesh has won the first-ever international award, TX2, along with the state Forest department, for doubling the number of tigers
- India successfully test fired the land attack version of Brahmos supersonic missile. It was test fired in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- The Defence Research Development Organization recently flagged off the first Varunastra, the heavy weight torpedo.
- Greg Barclay, an Auckland-based commercial lawyer and director of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) since 2012, has been elected as the new chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 24 November 2020, after a second round of voting.
- As part of the steps to deepen cooperation in civil space activities, the Indian and Australian space agencies are working together to temporarily locate Indian tracking facilities in Australia.
- The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on November 21, 2020.
- Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who was the political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has passed away, after testing positive for Covid-19. He was 71.
- Driven by the Government of India’s RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Program – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), India has taken another big step in improving regional air connectivity.
NEWS IN DETAILS
IMPORTANT DAYS AND THEMES
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women Observed on 25 November
- The United Nations designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is celebrated worldwide on November 25.
- Purpose: to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to various forms of violence and true nature of the issue is often hidden.
- 2020 Theme “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”.
- The day was officially designated by UNGA on December 17, 1999.
Martyrdom Day of ‘Guru Tegh Bahadur’ being observed on 24 November
- Every year, November 24 is celebrated as Martyrdom Day of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhs, of Sikh religion.
- The day is celebrated as Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur across the country.
- It was on 24 November 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur sacrificed his life for the sake of people who did not even belong to his community. to protect religion, human values, ideals and principles.
National Pharmacy Week is observed in November
- The Pharmaceutical Association of India and the Delhi Pharmaceutical Trust jointly celebrated the 59th National Pharmacy Week from November 16, 2020, to November 22, 2020.
- The theme of the 2020 celebration is “Pharmacists: Frontline Health Professionals”.
BANKING & FINANCE
India Post Payments Bank launches PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana
- India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched a low-cost insurance scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)’ for its customers to bring large sections of the underserved and unserved population into the financial mainstream.
- IPPB has collaborated with PNB MetLife India Insurance Company for this product.
- Objective: To provide protection and financial security to the poor and underprivileged, especially in unbanked and remote areas of India, in the unforeseen and unfortunate event of the loss of a family member who is primarily the breadwinner.
NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
Tenth edition of National Science Film Festival kicks off virtually
- The tenth edition of prestigious National science film festival kicked off on 24th November 2020 in a virtual mode.
- The four-day long film festival has been jointly organized by Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous agency under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India and the Tripura State Council of Science and Technology, Govt. of Tripura from 24 to 27 November 2020.
- A total of 372 films in different languages were received for participation, of which 115 films have been shortlisted by the ten-member jury to be screened during the festival.
- These films are in Hindi, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Kashmiri, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and Tamil languages.
- The science film festival offers a unique platform to showcase the science films made by professionals, amateur and student filmmakers under various themes, to promote science films in India.
Capital Infusion of Rs 6,000 crores into NIIF approved
- The Union Cabinet approved Rs 6,000 crores of capital infusion into the National Infrastructure Investment Fund.
- This is a part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
- The move will leverage to create financial pipeline of Rs 1 lakh crore.
- The main objective of creating the fund was to increase the investment in Greenfield and brownfield projects.
SDG Investor Map for India launched by UNDP and Invest India
- The Invest India and the United Nations Development Programme has launched the sustainable development goal investor map for India.
- It has laid out 18 Investment Opportunity Areas.
- This investment opportunity areas are in six critical sustainable development goals that were launched by the United Nations.
- The map will enable the factors that will help India in achieving its sustainable development goals.
- It will help India understand how it can reduce the SDG financing gap in the country.
President Ram Nath Kovind boards Air India One for its inaugural flight
- President Ram Nath kovind boarded the Air India one-B777 aircraft.
- The president boarded the aircraft to visit Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and offer prayers at the Venkateshwara Swamy temple.
- The aircraft is carrying its first VVIP official.
- The Air India one will be a call sign for the VVIP.
- The aircraft is to be used by the president, vice president and prime minister of India.
STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS
PM Modi launches “Har Ghar Nal Yojana” in Uttar Pradesh
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, November 22, launched the ‘Har Ghar Nal Yojana’ (Tap Water to Every Household) for the residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra and Mirzapur district.
- Government was committed to solving the water scarcity problem and hence the scheme of worth ₹5,555 crores was launched in the state.
- The scheme was launched to provide tap water to every Household.
- The main objective of the scheme is to provide tap water for every household.
INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
China launches historic ‘Chang’e-5’ mission to collect & return samples from moon
- China launched a historic mission ‘Chang’e 5‘to moon to collect ‘first lunar samples.
- The spacecraft “Chang’e-5” was launched on China’s indigenous Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern island province of Hainan province.
- This is China’s first attempt to retrieve samples from an extra-terrestrial body.
- It is the world’s first moon-sample mission in more than 40 years.
Japan Signs Pact with the Maldives
- Japan is India’s strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region and has recently signed an agreement to strengthen the Maldives’ security infrastructure, which will contribute to the stability of the South Indian Ocean.
- The Maldives and Japan recently signed an agreement under the Japanese government’s economic and social development plan.
AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED
India announces major high-impact projects worth USD 80 million for Afghanistan
- The 2020 Afghanistan Conference was organized in Geneva from 23-24 November 2020 virtually.
- The External Affairs Minister of India, Dr S. Jaishankar led the Indian delegation at the conference.
- The Conference was co-hosted by the United Nations, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the Government of Finland.
- India announced a slew of new development projects for Afghanistan during the conference
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
Delhi Crime bags Best Drama Series at the International Emmy Awards 2020
- The Netflix show, Delhi Crime, has won the Best Drama Series award at the 48th International Emmy Awards 2020.
- Delhi Crime is the first web-series from India to win an International Emmy Award.
- The show is written and directed by Richie Mehta and features actress Shefali Shah as the main character.
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve gets global award ‘TX2’ for doubling tiger population
- The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), situated in the Pilibhit district and Shahjahanpur District of Uttar Pradesh has won the first-ever international award, TX2, along with the state Forest department, for doubling the number of tigers.
- PTR is the first to receive the award among all the 13 tiger range countries. (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.)
- It achieved the goal of doubling the tiger’s population in just four years, against the target of 10 years.
- In 2014, PTR had 25 tigers which went up to 65 in 2018.
DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS
India test fires Brahmos supersonic Cruise Missiles successfully
- India successfully test fired the land attack version of Brahmos supersonic missile. It was test fired in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- The range of the missile has been extended to 400 km from 290 km.
- Its speed has been increased to 2.8 Mach which is almost three times the speed of sound.
- It was developed based on the Russian P-800 Oniks Cruise missile.
- The name of Brahmos missile was coined from the two rivers Brahmaputra of India and Moskva of Russia.
DRDO launches first Varunastra, a heavy weight Torpedo
- The Defence Research Development Organization recently flagged off the first Varunastra, the heavy weight torpedo.
- The torpedo was designed and developed by the BDL, Vishakhapatnam Unit of Indian Navy.
- It is a ship launched electrically propelled heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo that is capable of targeting quiet submarines.
- It can be deployed in both shallow and deep-water environment.
SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS
New Zealand’s Greg Barclay elected new ICC Chairman
- Greg Barclay, an Auckland-based commercial lawyer and director of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) since 2012, has been elected as the new chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 24 November 2020, after a second round of voting.
- He succeeds India’s Shashank Manohar who stepped down in July 2020 and will replace Imran Khwaja, who is currently the interim chairman.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CURRENT AFFAIRS
Space Agencies of India And Australia Were Working Together
- As part of the steps to deepen cooperation in civil space activities, the Indian and Australian space agencies are working together to temporarily locate Indian tracking facilities in Australia.
- This will support India’s planned human space flight program-Gaganyaan.
- It is designed to allow 3-7 crew members to stay in space for 3-7 days in a 400-kilometre orbit (low earth orbit or LEO).
Sentinel -6 Satellite was Launched
- The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on November 21, 2020.
- The Objective of Sentinel -6 Satellite to monitor the ocean. And it is jointly developed by European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, European Meteorological Satellite Development Organization (Eumetsat), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and European Union(EU)
- This is part of the next mission dedicated to measuring global sea-level changes.
- This task is called the “Jason Service Continuity” (Jason-CS) task, which aims to measure the height of the ocean.
OBITUARY
Veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel passes away
- Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who was the political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has passed away, after testing positive for Covid-19. He was 71.
- His full name was Ahmedbhai Mohammedbhai Patel.
- Patel has represented Gujarat for eight terms in the Parliament of India, from 1977 to 2020, which included three times in the lower house or Lok Sabha and five times in the upper House or Rajya Sabha.
MISCELLANEOUS
RCS UDAN – Second Direct Flight Commenced Operations
- Driven by the Government of India’s RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Program – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), India has taken another big step in improving regional air connectivity.
- The second direct flight will start from Hyderabad in Telangana. Fly to Nashik in Maharashtra.
- Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) was launched in 2016 as a regional connectivity plan under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
- Developing the regional aviation market is an innovative plan.
- The aim is to create affordable but economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that ordinary people can afford to fly even in small towns.
- According to the plan, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) was designated as the implementing agency.
- UDAN 2-Under UDAN 2.0, the helipad is preferentially connected to the Northeast and Hilly States.
- UDAN 3-Include a tourist route in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, including a seaplane connected to a seaplane.
- UDAN 4-78 new routes under UDAN Round 4, as well as helicopter and seaplane operations, have also been included.
